PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 20, 2021

Joaquin Niemann

The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island

Quick Quotes

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, welcome back to the 2021 PGA Championship here at the Ocean Course, Kiawah Island, South Carolina.

Joaquin, maybe talk about your round today, how you rode with the wind and put up a pretty good score today.

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Yeah, it's been a lot of fun since Monday. I love playing golf. I love hitting shots and I think in this course with these conditions, you got to hit the shots. It's going to be a lot of fun. You can play with the wind and you can play with the trajectory of the shots. That's what I like about playing golf. It's been really fun.

Q. You're clearly very comfortable hitting that shot under the wind, the stinger. Did you grow up on a really windy golf course or what's the origin of that shot?

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: I actually didn't. In Chile there is not much wind. I just like playing around with the shots. Since I was young, me and my coach, we always like to go on the range and play around the trees, hit it low, hit it high, like just mess around. Doing a lot of that, it gives me a lot of creativity on the course and allow me to hit all the shots I want to.

Yeah, I think there's nothing more fun than just be creative on the golf course and have fun.

THE MODERATOR: We're in South Carolina. You've played well here before at Sage Valley back a few years. I think you won that amateur.

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: Junior Invitational. Yeah, one of my favorite tournaments as an amateur, as a junior. That's my favorite tournament and my favorite victory, Southern Junior.

Q. You used a word we haven't heard a lot today, fun. Can you just talk about the challenge and kind of rising to it? What excites you about that?

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: I was actually on the course thinking about that. It doesn't matter how much I was going to score, if I was going to go low or high, I was telling myself that I think there is nothing more fun than just go out here, be with the crowd - we've missed the crowd - and hitting those kind of shots with the wind, you get some fun, get some clubs sometimes, and I think that's what I like from playing golf, and if you can hit a good round, it's even better.

Q. Bryson DeChambeau was talking about being mentally worn out by the conditions but you sound like quite the opposite. How do you feel mentally after the round? Do you feel drained or like you have some energy?

JOAQUIN NIEMANN: I feel good. Obviously when you play good, you've got more energy. I think it depends the way you take it. I mean, I tried to go out there on the course, hit my shots. If I do it, obviously it's going to be easier, but I mean, just focus on what I'm hitting at the moment, and if I can do it, great, and if I don't, I mean, I'm not going to put myself under stress and just go to the next shot and try to do my shot. It's just what I like.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks for joining us today. Play well tomorrow and best of luck throughout week.